Ashley Hutchings: The Guv'nor and the Rise of Folk Rock--Fairport Convention, Steeley Span and the Albion Band

by Geoff Wall, Brian Hinton

As founder of Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span, Ashley Hutchins is the pivotal figure in the history of folk rock. This book draws on hundreds of hours of interviews with Hutchins and other folk-rock artists and paints a vivid picture of the scene that also produced Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake, John Martyn and Al Stewart.

Genres: Music

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2002

Reviews

[Conrad]

Fairport Convention are almost unknown in the US, but they hit British rock like a meteor in the late 60s and early 70s. Their best music's a judicious combination of British folk and American electric rock, but without a lot of the loopiness of the Incredible String Band, and without the preciousness you get in some hippie music. They knew their sources well, too, and adapted a bunch of old English tunes to the rock idiom.

Of particular note in the band is Richard Thompson, who made Rolling Stone's list of the 10 most influential guitarists in history a few years back. When you can get X, REM, Bonnie Raitt, Dinosaur Jr., Maddy Prior, David Byrne, Bob Mould of Husker Du and Evan Dando to get together for a tribute album, you're probably onto something. He's never cut anything resembling a top-100 album, but he's a peerless songwriter and musician.

Also of note: Sandy Denny, who you may know from her duet, "Battle of Evermore," on Led Zeppelin IV.

This book looks to be about the folk-rock scene hereabouts in the late 60s and early 70s - I'd like to give it a read one of these days. Fairport were a pretty fractious bunch, and given the extensive lineup changes, it's more of a franchise than a band, a little like Yes (except with musicians instead of technicians). I'm sure there're some good stories in here.


If you're curious, these are good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMNrVE...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2xODj...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1it7BP...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN9AJj...